Remembered
by nozomi.no.uta
Summary: In memories, one could live forever...Of course, that would be considering the memory existed in the first place. Glimpses into a certain redhead's point of view through circumstances with the Kismet Scribe.
1. Confident

**Author's Comments: **Hello! It's been quite a while since I posted anything, hasn't it? Alas, despite being busy with all that life brings, I can't stop writing. Here's a short piece inspired by something Lea said in _Birth by Sleep_. (Not that I played the game yet...*sigh*) Hope you enjoy!

**Disclaimer: **I do not own _Kingdom Hearts._ I own Maxiin.

* * *

In memories, one never died. One lived forever.

Of course, that would be considering the memory existed in the first place.

"Go."

He lazily opened his eyes one by one and stared blankly at Saix. "Why me?" he drawled, crossing his arms and leaning on one leg.

"You are best-suited for the task."

Hah. Of course he was. Dealing with amnesic former Organization members was becoming a hobby ranking not so far below burning stuff.

"Do whatever must be done but don't intervene when the Heartless appear." Without another word or a chance to respond, Saix disappears in a whirl of dark miasma.

He wasn't too bothered by the command, really…not that he could _feel_ bothered, but that was beside the point. Truth be told, he was itching for a chance to see him—the mysterious Organization member no one but the Superior or Saix knew of up until the Nobodies were completely eradicated, the one who saved their existences after said eradication…the one who remembered.

He didn't believe it. He sensed another Roxas episode.

In the blink of an eye, the miasma engulfed him and sank away. He would have thought he'd never moved at all if it wasn't for the figure standing about ten feet away.

So this was the _secret member_, huh…? He had to suppress a snort as he looked him over and stepped silently towards him. Those pajamas made him look like a _girl_. So did the way he clenched his fists and darted his eyes—

He did a double take. _Oh._ Well, whaddya know?

He stopped a foot away from _her_, a corner of his mouth curling up at the fear practically emanating from _her_ in invisible waves. "Hey."

That "eep" totally confirmed it. She was a girl.

"Whoa," he half-laughed. "Skittish, aren't ya?"

Her dark eyes flitted around with more fervor, seeking him out—

"I'm right here."

She whipped her head towards him, almost smashing her nose into his ribs. From there she took her sweet time raising her eyes to meet his. She probably would've taken longer if he hadn't egged her on.

He smirked at her widened eyes as she stared at him in bewilderment. It must've been the tats. "If you think _I _look strange, you haven't seen anything yet."

The girl nearly tripped trying to put some distance between them. All the while her cautious eyes remained locked with his.

Heh. She gave him the exact same look Roxas did.

"I'm not gonna bite," he insisted, raising his hands sluggishly in an attempt to seem friendlier. "I'm on _your_ side. Really."

Not a glimmer of relief cracked through her cautious gaze. Surprise, surprise. The only thing that broke her concentration was the sudden sucking noise signaling the arrival of the Heartless.

He moaned and brought a hand to cradle the side of his head. "Ah, jeez. I was hoping I could have more time to talk to you," he murmured mostly to himself, eyeing the yellow orbs emerging all around them. "They're pretty persistent even after the Superior was finished off. Huh." As the number increased, he glanced back at the girl…and blinked at her utterly confused and shocked stare, open jaw and all.

Oh what a _drag_ amnesia was.

"You know," he prompted, arching one eyebrow. "Xemnas."

He could see her run the name through her brain several times…and then she froze. She could've passed for a statue, for all he knew. He swore she stopped _breathing._

Carefully he waved a hand before her unseeing eyes. "Hey. Hello? Anybody in there?"

She snapped back to life, blinking rapidly and breathing again.

That was weird…but it was a sign, he supposed.

The sucking noise stuffed his ears as he partially shouted over the racket, "You know, you're gonna have to fight all these Heartless. Shouldn't you…you know…get ready?"

She stared dumbly. He could almost hear her repeat, _Get ready?_

He arched his eyebrow again. Talk about major déjà vu…and talk about _awkward_. He made no effort to hide the fact.

She squirmed in place as the Heartless crawled around them. Defenseless and clueless. That had to suck.

Well…orders were orders. He took a breath before spitting out suddenly, "I gotta run."

She whipped her head up to stare at him incredulously.

"I'll be back!" he reassured her calmly as the miasma swallowed him up. "You know I will!"

In seconds she and the Heartless were completely gone and he was alone in the darkness. He scratched the back of his head thoughtfully. So that was the Kismet Scribe…the one who was supposedly going to get them their hearts…the _back-up plan_, so to speak…the _tool_…

Pretty pathetic. So much for _remembering_ them.

"You must try again."

He suppressed the urge to roll his eyes. "She doesn't know _squat_, Saix."

"Her memories are locked away," Saix calmly fired back. "It's only a matter of giving her the key."

Giving her the _key? _That was a good one. He doubted she knew what a keyblade was.

"She is not Roxas."

He froze. Saix's glare burned into his back.

"Perhaps differentiating her from Roxas will help you," he heard him mutter. "Go. She's returned."

Saix vanished silently but his words echoed in his mind. She wasn't Roxas. She wasn't Roxas.

The thought repeated in his head as he returned to her side. Quickly he covered his pensive face with a mask of amusement and coated his voice with playfulness. "That was quick," he noted dryly, leaning on one leg again. "I didn't think you'd be back until tomorrow night. Miss me?"

She studied his face…and took a deep breath. "N-No," she tried to declare quietly. "I don't even know who you are."

Things certainly seemed that way what with the dumbfounded-ness and the confusion and the countless incredulous glares she sent his way earlier…but he couldn't find himself agreeing with her. Maybe it was the faint recognition in the deep recesses of her dark eyes or the way she chose her words carefully as if she wasn't sure of anything.

Or maybe it was because he himself was proof that she wasn't another Roxas.

"You're wrong," he said. "You know who I am."

Her eyebrows inched together slightly. She didn't want to believe him...but she would. He'd make sure of it. He was suddenly determined to give her a key. She had to know. He had to discover the truth and prove somebody wrong, even if it was himself.

"Think," he advised, tapping a finger to his temple. "I know you've got it memorized."

Again her body stilled. If he listened keenly he was sure he'd be able to hear her clawing away the cloudy amnesia in search of answers and certainty to his statement.

"Do you remember now?" he asked, bending down to her level. "Do you remember who I am?"

She didn't respond. He could sense it. She only needed a little more...

She was not Roxas. "Do you remember?" he whispered. She was not Roxas. She was—

"_Maxiin?_"

Her name seemed to do the trick. Her eyes glazed over and she stared unseeingly before her, completely frozen in place. Several moments passed and she didn't budge an inch.

"Hey…" he called uncertainly, but she didn't answer. He called again and again, louder and louder, grabbing her shoulder and giving it a slight shake. "You okay?"

She trembled in his grasp and her dark eyes found their way to his…and he could see it—knowledge. Memory. _His_ memory.

"Axel?"

His name on her tongue made something stir in his stomach and flutter in his chest. With that, he knew he'd been proven wrong.

"Hey! You _do_ remember! I told you so!" he exclaimed brightly while stowing away his own disbelief. "Though you took longer than Roxas did…I know yeah?" He laughed at her shock. "I guess it wasn't his fault he was so clueless."

"I don't understand," she murmured…and then the questions began spewing from her lips one after the other.

Oh-kay, he had to stop her before she made his ears bleed. "You know all the answers already," he reassured her with a confidence he hadn't had since disappearing before Sora's eyes.

"I-I what?"

He would've repeated his words with even greater confidence if he hadn't heard it: the Heartless. "They're here."

Fear overtook her, radiating off of her in waves…but he knew she'd get over it soon enough. He began to back away, smiling toothily at her with a half-shrug. "I'd stay and help, but then I'd get busted."

She gaped openly at him. "What? Where are you going?"

"Sorry, kid."

She protested, hesitatingly stepping towards him and reaching out for him—

"C'mon, Maxiin." He was beginning to like the way her name sat on his tongue as he uttered it. Maxiin. Maxiin. It kinda sounded like a declaration of victory. "You could beat these things in your sleep. Oh wait, you _are_ beating them in your sleep." He snorted and smirked. "Ha, that's funny. I crack myself up sometimes."

Her lips mouthed cried for help from him—

"Fight," he said simply. "F-I-G-H-T. Got it memorized?"

Instantly the chaos disappeared around him. He couldn't wipe the grin off his face. She remembered.

"AXEL YOU JERK! J-E-R-K! GET _THAT_ MEMORIZED!"

He threw his head back and laughed.

* * *

**Author's Afterthought: **If it didn't make sense, this takes place when Imani first meets Axel in her dreams. I'm thinking of writing a short post-_Moirai Zealot_ piece or even a mid-_Moirai Zealot_ piece with this theme of remembrance...What do you think? Leave a review, please! Thanks for reading!


	2. Chase

**Author's Comments: **Enjoy!

**Disclaimer: **I do not own _Kingdom Hearts. _I own Imani.

* * *

He hated her.

_Give me a chance,_ she begged him back then. _I have what it takes to defy the odds. Give me a chance to use it. Blah blah blah blah blah._

He gave her a chance. He was giving her a chance _right now_. What was she doing with it? She was running with it…running _away_ from everyone…running away from the people who _trusted_ her…from her friends who _thought_ she trusted them enough to let them _help_.

Insulting. Downright insulting.

"Let's try the beast's castle…I mean, the _prince's_ castle."

He swallowed his groan as the rest of the significantly more hopeful, trusting, _we're on an important mission so we have to work together and not bite off each other's heads_ group voiced agreement. He made no effort to try to dispel the thick cloud of frustration hovering around him, though, even when Riku and Zexion shot him exasperated glances.

He hated her right now. No icy glare or sharp comment aimed at him was going to change that.

As his atoms realigned in the middle of an empty ballroom, he stretched out the kinks in his neck and exhaled tiredly. This visit had better give them a lead. Exhaustion was beginning to weigh down his limbs.

"Let's see if we can find anyone…"

His eyes roamed the foyer as they stepped out of the ballroom and he let out a low whistle. "This place sure is a lot brighter since the last time I came," he commented.

The duck crossed his arms and squawked something in reply…but he couldn't understand.

Whatever.

"Ah! Monsieur Sora!"

Two guys rushed towards their group and immediately the passé questions spewed out: What were they doing here? Was something wrong? Did they know why Imani left the castle as suddenly as she had appeared?

Wait. That wasn't passé.

"You just missed her!" one of the guys told them, bidding the group to follow him up one of the staircases. "She fought this strange blue monster and then disappeared!"

Strange blue monster…?

"Did she say where she went?" Sora asked hopefully.

"No," the other guy—the prince, he assumed—answered as he burst through one of the doors in the hallway and strode towards the other end of the room, "but I have something that might help you find her."

As he watched the prince snatch something off a table, he nearly slapped his forehead and rolled his eyes. Of _course._ Why didn't anyone think of this sooner?

"Show us where Imani has run to," the prince demanded, holding up the mirror for everyone to see.

The moment he spotted short dark hair and wide eyes, he turned and ran out. He didn't bother taking the stairs one or even two at a time, choosing to leap off the top step and landing before the double-doors of the ballroom.

She'd _better_ be there. He was gonna make her remember who her friends—who her _family_ were.

* * *

**Author's Afterthought: **Thanks for reading! Please leave a review!


	3. Cracked

**Author's Comment: **Hello! It's been so long since I updated any of my stories, but thank you for your patience. Please enjoy!

**Disclaimer: **I do not own _Kingdom Hearts. _I own Imani.

* * *

"Imani?"

He froze mid-swing, his wide eyes seeing past Xemnas' haughty smirk. The heat pooling in his hands vanished. His borderline rage went cold.

"Imani? Is that you?"

Curiosity seized his common sense, forcing him to tear his eyes from Xemnas and to whip his head towards the creaky gate just as the short king pushed it open. Xemnas was probably going to get away…but he didn't care much about that at the moment. He watched with bated breath as the tiny king poked his head through the gap…

Was it really her?

"Imani!"

They all beat him to her, rushing through the gate into the grassy courtyard with relieved laughter and joyful cries. His feet felt like lead as he dragged himself after them. The realization drifted in his head aimlessly, clouding over his senses. It was her…it was really h—

"Who _are_ you people?"

For the second time he froze. The sharp edges in those words sliced his gut and rang in his ears strangely. It was definitely her voice…but she sounded so _different_.

"You…You don't remember us?"

He forced his feet to keep walking, to take him through the gate and into the courtyard where the group stood and sat around a frowning girl. Whatever she or anyone else was saying went completely over his head. All he could do was stare at her.

Why the _hell_ was she dressed like that?

Finally, her voice registered in his brain: "Where are we?"

No one responded. The thick air weighed heavily on his shoulders.

"Well?"

He couldn't believe this.

"We're in Twilight Town," he heard his own voice answer hollowly. Before he knew it he was kneeling by her side. "You've been _living_ here with me and Zexion. You always grab breakfast at the diner I work in and you always order mini waffles with whipped cream and strawberries."

She blinked owlishly—obliviously. "Really?"

He searched and searched, narrowing his eyes slightly and peering as hard as he could…but he couldn't find it. It was gone from her eyes—recognition. Remembrance.

She didn't remember him.

A pang in his chest seemed to dislodge his heart and it sank to his stomach. "What happened to you? You're supposed to know all this."

"The only thing I know—"

He hardly waited for her to finish her explanation before demanding, "What do you mean 'the only thing you know'?"

She elaborated, but he could feel his mind zooming out…away from where he knelt. Her words echoed, overlapping each other. None of it made sense.

Unless…

"Maxiin."

She was looking at Sora. Moments passed before she uncertainly returned her gaze to him. "Were you talking to _me?_" she asked.

He didn't think. His hand shot out to press against her chest…right where…

_Shit._

"What are you doing?"

He wasn't surprised. Still, something cracked and split inside him: his heart.

"Does she—?"

"No," he cut off the mouse, his voice barely above a whisper. "She doesn't have a heartbeat."

* * *

**Author's Afterthought: **I don't know where I'm going with this little story series, but I hope you're enjoying the glimpses of Axel's POV. Please leave a review! Thank you for reading!


	4. Captured

**Author's Comments: **Hi! This popped into my head early early early this morning. Decided to skip around a bit; this one takes place somewhere during _The Kismet Scribe._ Hope you enjoy!

**Disclaimer: **I don't own _Kingdom Hearts._ I own Maxiin/Imani.

* * *

She was going to the wrong castle, he realized with a sigh. In fact, of the castles he knew, she and her new friends were going to the castle that posed the most threat to the Superior's plan. She'd make even _more _new friends who'd fill her heart with _more_ light and _more_ positivity and _more_ motive to abandon the organization.

He groaned. He was going to get a load of crap for his idea to see if she could read his mind when he said "castle" and thought "the _beast's_ castle."

Well, maybe he could wriggle out of taking blame. He was _experimenting _so that the organization could get a full grasp of her capabilities. Yeah. That sounded productive. Her going to the wrong castle wasn't a step backward; it was unconventional progress.

Yeah. Progress.

He pushed the notion aside and refocused on the images playing before him across invisible screens. He hadn't understood the reality of Maxiin's memory until he saw it for himself—curtains of moving color stretching high above him with blurred edges separating viewpoints from each other. He could manipulate individual standpoints however he pleased—rewinding, pausing, fast-forwarding, increasing or decreasing the volume, skipping between hours or years, honing in on sensory details like scent or touch…It was kind of overwhelming.

He let his arms fold into themselves snugly across his chest as he studied three screens before him: Sora's, Riku's, and Maxiin's. They had just departed from Hollow Bastion and were heading down a hallway towards the audience chamber of the castle. Sora's pictures shook and bobbed with his jogging and giddy eagerness to get to the chamber. Riku's pictures remained a lot more still as he strolled calmly behind Sora. Maxiin's pictures…

His eyes narrowed at the Heartless rising from the carpet. Maxiin's footsteps ceased and her breathing grew louder and more erratic above the sucking noise, her eyes fixated on the Heartless.

"What're you looking at?"

He blinked away his momentary dizziness when she whipped her head to look at Riku who was eyeing her quizzically. "D-Don't you see them?" she asked incredulously. "T-There are Heartle…"

When she whipped her head back to the stretch of hallway before her, the Heartless were gone.

His eyebrows inched together. Where did they go? Sora didn't get rid of them when they weren't looking. They couldn't have just disappeared like that.

"Come on, you slowpokes! _This way!_"

A curse slipped out past his lips. His eyes widened and he stumbled back a few steps when he saw a huge Heartless explode into being right before Maxiin's eyes. As quickly as the Heartless appeared Maxiin's arms cover part of her vision, blocking his view. Her shriek filled his ears and stretched into the nothingness surrounding him.

"Imani, what's _wrong? _What are you doing?"

He glanced at Riku's screen and felt his jaw drop. There was no Heartless blockading the hallway—only Sora watching Maxiin with alarm as she covered her eyes.

What the hell was going on? Why was the Heartless present in Maxiin's pictures but not in Riku's or Sora's? Why did the Heartless suddenly disappear from Maxiin's pictures when she lowered her arms?

"Are you okay? What happened?"

"I'm fine. I just…I remembered something a little too clearly."

Sora's pictures showed her face—pale skin, a deep-set frown, and tired, frustrated eyes. She fought to catch her breath and shake away the fear from her mind. She insisted she was fine.

Did he say overwhelming? He took that back. Her memory was _lethal._

He could only handle a few seconds of studying her before giving in to the urge to wave away all three screens. She remembered everything. _Everything._ Every single detail. Her mind saved every fiber of every moment. She experienced it all— she saw it, heard it, smelled it, tasted it, _felt_ it— and there wasn't anything she could do to control it. What a nightmare.

He raked a hand through his hair and exhaled. There were some things that were better off being forgotten…but she would never be allowed that luxury.

* * *

**Author's Afterthought: **Please leave a review! Thank you for reading!


	5. Comeback

**Author's Comments: **It's been a while, I know. I'm sorry! I hope you enjoy this little chapter and I hope you're doing well this summer.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own _Kingdom Hearts._ I own Imani/Maxiin.

* * *

"What the…?"

Xigbar's voice trailed off as Axel opened his eyes…and balked. It was no longer completely dark around him. Flames sitting in a bowl hanging from the ceiling cast wavering shadows against the walls and the staircase. His footsteps made quiet taps against the mosaic floor as he spun in a slow circle to gape at his surroundings. Along with Xigbar, several other former organization members stood gazing around in wonder.

"Where the hell are we?" Luxord whispered.

Axel studied his gloved hands in the dim lighting, stretching and curling his fingers slowly. There was a certain weight to the movement that he'd lost when he was in her memory…but now he could feel it.

It was the weight of _existence_.

"Forget that. How did we even get here?"

"We've been summoned."

He tore his gaze from his hands and looked to the top of the staircase where Xemnas and Saix stood. "Maxiin needs our assistance in subduing her darkness for good," Xemnas declared quietly, his goldenrod eyes glowing.

"Maxie brought us here?" Larxene half-laughed. "Well where is she?"

"Most likely, she's still outside this castle," Saix murmured, "and she'll need to come inside to hunt her darkness."

"And how does she expect to win against it?" Larxene crossed her arms and leaned on one leg. "She's a _mess_."

He didn't like admitting that Larxene was right, but he couldn't disagree with her description of the girl. She really _was_ a mess. She was indecisive, overly ambitious, delusional, a bit of a suck-up in a sense…

"She'll find a way."

Axel turned to the voice and found himself staring at _Zexion_, of all people. "I am confident that she won't fail," he went on with a peculiar light in his visible eye, "simply because she refuses to."

A strange, almost reverent silence echoed after his words. Axel sensed the air shift in the dark foyer…There was still a definite thickness in it, but it wasn't filled with scorn. He knitted his brow as he tried to find the words to describe the new chemistry in the air.

"She really is something, huh?" Xigbar snickered, setting his hands on his hips. "That brat."

What was it called…What were they breathing in at this moment…?

He watched lopsided grins appear on Zexion and Luxord's faces. He saw Larxene straighten her posture and allow a corner of her mouth to quirk upwards. He furrowed his brow when he noticed Saix and Xemnas glance at each other with the same peculiar light in their eyes that Zexion had.

Suddenly, it clicked. The words exploded in his mind and raced through his body: _Determination. Confidence. Hope._

"Heartless!"

He snapped out of his amazement and caught sight of yellow-eyed dark figures bursting into being all around them, hovering and swaying and shuffling. They all seemed to chuckle mockingly as they stared them down. They filled the room from wall to wall, covering every inch of tile floor.

Axel straightened and curled his hands into fists. So that was it: Imani needed her friends to help her through this. Without them, she had no hope. Without her, they had no hope, either.

Okay then.

"Looks like we need to clear a path," Luxord noted mildly.

Xemnas nodded once before allowing dark miasma to swallow him. "Split up and keep in touch," he commanded.

Heat blasted in his palms as his chakram spun into his grasp. It was time to bring this whole mess to a close. "Okay then," he growled. "_Bring it._"

* * *

**Author's Afterthought: **Thanks for reading! Please leave a review and let me know what you think.


	6. Complicated

**Author's Comments: **I know, I know - an update for _The Captive Heart Show_ is long overdue. I'm working on it, I promise! In the meantime, I managed to put this together for you. Hope you enjoy and hope you continue to patiently await a new chapter for _The Captive Heart Show_!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own _Kingdom Hearts_. I own Imani/Maxiin.

* * *

He shook his head with a sigh. Was it just him or did the breaks between his scheduled sessions of monitoring Maxiin's progress become shorter and shorter each time? Sure, there really wasn't much else to do, but he felt—for lack of a better word—that he was keeping an eye on her the most out of all the other organization members.

He spotted Xigbar watching a few screens with crossed arms and unusual silence. As he stopped next to him, he noticed a few familiar faces in the pictures. "What's this?" he asked.

"My non-existence," Xigbar muttered…then amended, "well, actually, the end of my non-existence."

His lips twisted into a quizzical frown. "Why're you watching this?"

His eye was glued to the screen showing Sora and his friends glaring up at him from a lower level. He shrugged. "Dunno. Was curious. Maxiin isn't doing anything worth reporting, anyway."

It was then he noticed a screen hovering a few feet away from the cluster Xigbar was focused on. From what he could see, Maxiin and her entourage seemed to be eating breakfast. No sound came from the screen, but the group looked like they were in light conversation. He vaguely wondered if it was about anything worth eavesdropping…

Eh. They could've been talking about what to have for _lunch_ for all he cared. Maxiin really couldn't do much with the organization in her head.

Xigbar chuckled suddenly. "It's kinda weird watching your last moments play out like this."

He switched his focus to the screen Xigbar stared at. Illuminated bullets zoomed around the platform towards an upside-down Sora, but the boy sent most of them back towards Xigbar with a swing of the keyblade. Soon, everything went topsy-turvy, flipping right side up as Xigbar touched down on the floor.

_"Let's see how you dance…"_

He had to blink away his slight dizziness for a moment as the screen's images whirled with Xigbar's reckless spin and quick warp-teleports. The gunshots rang in his ears. In the blink of an eye the screen went upside-down again with glimpses of Sora and his team flashing in and out of view.

Another chuckle. "It may not look like it, but I was getting pretty damn tired at this point. That kid wouldn't let up."

His green eyes flitted to an adjacent screen. The images were faster and jerkier than those of Xigbar's screen. Xigbar appeared then disappeared every split-second, his teeth bared and his scarred face stretched tight with either a manic grin or a painful cringe. It was hard to tell. Sometimes a brown spike or two would block the right spots.

"Here it comes…"

The screen became level with Xigbar's face—that was definitely a cringe—and a swing of the keyblade to his shoulder sliced a grunt out of Xigbar. He threw his head back, his golden eye wide and disbelieving.

"_I lost…?"_ his voice echoed._ "_Me_…?"_

One screen—the one with Xigbar's point of view—faded to black. Xigbar's coat rustled as he heaved a sigh. "And that's that." He waved a gloved hand to the screens. "Anything you wanna watch?"

His ear itched at those words. Xigbar could have been flipping channels on a TV with the way he referred to her.

_She's a tool. Who cares how she's used as long as she's still useful? _a voice reasoned in his head.

He shook away the train of thought. "Eh. Not really."

"Whatever." Xigbar waved a hand as he strode off. "I'll leave you to it, then. I'm bored."

Several of the screens disappeared with Xigbar's departure, leaving behind the screen with a pouting Sora glaring at a smirking Riku. Muted laughter lilted in the air as Riku's eyes locked with the screen and winked. Sora grumbled.

The group didn't look like they were in a rush to get going. That meant less of a chance of them making sudden movements. That meant another boring session watching them.

But it didn't have to be boring.

His lips twisted into a frown. He'd never actually thought about pulling up old memories. If he wanted to, he could replay any memory. It didn't even have to be _his _memory. He could watch someone else's memories…like Xigbar's or the Superior's…

Or Roxas'.

The thought stole his breath. Even now there were still so many questions he had about Roxas. How did he lose his memory? How did he end up in that fake Twilight Town? What exactly happened after he walked away down that dark street? If he wanted to, he could find the answers to all those questions.

And he damn well wanted to.

He raised a hand and spread his fingers, drawing up a new blank screen. He focused on that night, picturing the dark, wet street and the smell of rain and Roxas' spiky head and clenched fists. Colors began blotting the screen from the center, spreading towards the edges to copy the image in his head. Once the entire screen was filled, he touched Roxas' back and the screen zoomed into the blond's perspective.

Roxas trudged down the street, his eyes hardly drifting from the direction he walked, not even as he eliminated approaching Heartless with single swipes of his Keyblade. He breathed calmly. He moved without hesitation. He never looked back.

But he sensed Roxas was being followed. Roxas seemed to notice, too. The skin on his back tingled just from watching Roxas speed up slightly.

_"Go back, Axel. I don't want you drawing suspi—"_

His thin eyebrows shot up at who Roxas found upon whirling on his follower. The figure wore an Organization coat with the hood hiding his—no, _her_ face. She looked too short to be Larxene, though. Larxene wouldn't have any reason to hide her face from him, anyway.

Before Roxas could ask—demand, really—who she was, a voice called his name. Xigbar's advancing figure sent Roxas dashing into a side alley with the girl in tow. The screen's images shook with his haste.

_"Who are you?"_

_ "That _hurt_, you know."_

His eyes widened. The voice, though sharp and hostile, was definitely _hers._ Roxas ran into _her_ after leaving? Did she know she'd run into him?

_"If you intend to run away _successfully,_ you'll need to keep your voice down."_

He frowned. Of course she knew. Why did she run into him, then? She could have disappeared from the organization's radar for good…but she chose Roxas.

He pulled up a second screen, its colors bleeding to reveal Roxas' shocked blue eyes. As he watched, his list of questions slowly diminished.

He helped her leave.

"_You won't have to remember anything anymore."_

She took him to the sorcerer.

"_Maxiin? The Kismet Scribe?"_

He learned her name and her purpose for leaving.

"_I…want it to stop."_

She expressed her frustration.

"_Be grateful that you can just worry about yourself, that you can _live_ for yourself. Be grateful you're free to go out and find the answers to your questions, that you're free to see places more colorful than a stupid white bedroom and breathe air that doesn't _reek _of rain!"_

She changed her name.

"_Imani—"_

She saw Sora.

"_You know…you two really do look alike."_

He became confused.

"_Leaving?"_

She…wanted to go back to the Castle…

_"Roxas!"_

He couldn't help darting his eyes from screen to screen to try keeping up with everyone, even though one particular screen belonging to a masked man in red robes caught everything without the jerkiness of Maxiin's indecisiveness and Roxas' struggle to break free from his captor.

_"Run, Imani!"_

_ "But—"_

_ "Just GO!"_

Goosebumps erupted on his skin upon hearing Roxas' voice and seeing his face contorted with pain. He saw those blue eyes clouding over just as they closed. He noticed a screen fade to black from the corner of his eye as Roxas' body went slack, his head dropping to his chest.

He exhaled the breath he hardly realized he'd been holding. So that was what happened…

_"Well done, Maxiin."_

It was more the words said than the foreign deep voice that shook him from his solemn trance. _Well done, Maxiin?_ What was that supposed to mean?

His eyes landed on the screen belonging to the masked man…and widened. Not a trace of fear remained on Maxiin's face. She stood still, her dark stony eyes locked on Roxas and her jaw tight.

_ "It's Imani,"_ she hissed.

The complete one-eighty instantly spelled out everything: she _knew_ the masked man would be there to capture Roxas…and she led him there anyway.

That…bitch. _She_ brought Roxas to his demise.

_ "It was for everyone's good. You know that."_

The glare Maxiin shot at him was so cold and sharp that he couldn't help reeling back instinctively. In three seconds, she whirled around and disappeared into the Dark Corridor, but those three seconds were enough time for him to spot what lay beneath her glare: conflict, guilt, _sorrow_.

He raked a gloved hand through his spikes and growled in faux-frustration. Then _why?_ Why would she do that? What did she have to gain from setting up Roxas?

Her curses brought his attention back to her screen. She emerged into a town and raced down the streets, the bright colors of the buildings blurring as she ran. She glanced down at her fumbling fingers often, her curses becoming more colorful than the town as she struggled to unzip her coat.

His eyebrows drew together at her. What the hell was she doing now? Where was she going? Didn't she know that the exposure to light would make her weak if she took her coat off? She'd lose the shield of darkness that counterbalanced the light.

Or was that the point? He didn't know. He couldn't tell, not even from watching past memories.

She threw the coat off. Immediately her screen tilted suddenly. Her breathing became heavy. Her footsteps slowed. Her vision blurred. The last thing he saw through her eyes before she blacked out was the front gate of a pristine white castle.

He stared into the darkness unseeingly. Well…he definitely got answers…but he got more questions in the process. He'd taken one step forward but had no foothold to take the next step.

A breathless laugh seeped from his lungs. Damn Maxiin. If Roxas hadn't run into her that night…If she'd let him leave and never followed him…If she'd disappeared completely that night…would things still have ended up this way somehow? Would Organization XIII still have been destroyed by Sora? Would the organization have gotten any closer to Kingdom Hearts?

Or did she know something that everyone else didn't? Did she know that the organization had to be destroyed so that she could rise to give them their hearts? Did she know that Roxas had to be captured and sent to that fake Twilight Town in order to set things in motion? Whose side was she on?

"Something wrong, Axel?"

He blinked, turning to the voice. Demyx arched both eyebrows at him, placing his hands on his hips expectantly. Was his shift over already?

"Well?" Demyx prompted.

He shook his head. "It's nothing," he told Demyx and himself.

The blond frowned for a moment, studying him carefully (dammit, Demyx, just _drop_ it) then shrugged and broke his gaze. His blue eyes locked with something, widening and lighting up. "Hey," he said, his mouth curving into a grin. "She's got a nice smile."

It was then he heard it: laughter. He turned back to the screen—when did that second one come up?—and saw her. Her eyes were barely open as she tossed her head back and laughed her heart out, a bright smile threatening to rip her glowing face in half.

The corners of his lips sagged. Her smile…Talk about a one-eighty from the depressing glare he saw not even a minute ago. He didn't know she knew how to smile like that…or how to smile at all.

"Uh…is she still laughing…?"

At Demyx's uncertain question, he tried listening a little more carefully. She breathed deeply, almost gasping for air between laughs…that started to sound like _sobs_…

His eyes flitted to her focus. The colors were blurring and she blinked constantly. He barely caught Sora and Riku's concerned looks before she whipped her head away and strode out of the room.

"She's crying…"

From the corner of his eye he saw Demyx step closer to the screens. The blond reached up to rub the back of his neck—a rare sign that he was actually contemplating something seriously. "Maybe she remembered something sad…" he heard him mumble.

The comment echoed quietly. She remembered something…and how quickly that changed everything. How drastically she herself could change. How drastically she'd changed everything.

And how damn _hard_ it was to figure her out.

He stifled a sigh as he turned to leave. Man, she was complicated.

* * *

**Author's Afterthought: **Hope you enjoyed that! Please let me know what you think. Thanks for reading!


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